Louis George Carpenter

Louis George Carpenter (March 28, 1861 – September 12, 1935), was a college Professor and later the Dean of Engineering & Physics at Colorado State University formerly known as the Colorado Agricultural College. He was also a mathematician and an irrigation and consulting engineer. the son of Charles Ketchum Carpenter and Jeanette Coryelle Carpenter.

From 1881 to 1888 he served as an assistant to his brother, Professor Rolla C. Carpenter, in teaching courses at the Michigan State Agricultural College.

In 1883 he was awarded his Masters of Science degree from Michigan State Agricultural College.

Carpenter was recruited by President Charles Ingersoll and accepted the chair of the Engineering & Physics Department of the then Colorado Agricultural College.

Carpenter declined the Presidency of that college (later university) in 1891 and several times during his tenure.

Reportedly, he reviewed and edited geological reports from several countries.

The artesian wells of Colorado and their relation to irrigation / (Fort Collins, Colo. : State Agricultural College, Agricultural Experiment Station, ) Forests and snow / (Fort Collins, Colo. : Agricultural Experiment Station of the Agricultural College of Colorado, 1901) The loss of water from reservoirs by seepage and evaporation / by L.G. Carpenter. (Fort Collins, Colo. : State Agricultural College, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1898) Losses from canals from filtration or seepage / (Fort Collins, Colo. : State Agricultural College, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1898) The measurement and division of water / (Fort Collins, Colo. : State Agricultural College, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1890) Meteorology of 1897, with illustrations / (Fort Collins, Colo. : State Agricultural College, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1898), / by L.G. Carpenter, also by Robert E. Trimble On the measurement and division of water / (Fort Collins, Colo. : Agricultural Experiment Station of the Agricultural College of Colorado, 1911) Seepage or return waters from irrigation / (Fort Collins, Colo. : State Agricultural College, Agricultural Experiment Station, 1896)

Papers Carpenter left his academic papers related to water resources, education, irrigation and outside field work to Colorado State University after he retired in 1922. These papers detail the early work in organizing and stressing the importance of water education in modern societies.

A joint effort of the University Libraries and the Colorado Water Institute created a "Guide to the Papers of Louis G. Carpenter" and covers the years from 1888 to 1919. It resides at the Morgan Library at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Additional papers, legal papers, articles about and newspaper clippings are at the Denver Public Library. This biographical type collection reflect his work as a "Colorado irrigation engineer who specialized in irrigation and water-use practices in the Rocky Mountain region."

Awards For his promotion of education science and engineering which had an impact not only in America, but also Canada, England and France, Carpenter was given several honors.

In 1895 he was decorated by the French government with the Chevalier du Merite Agricole. In 1900 he was awarded a Gold Medal for his scientific education at the Paris Exposition.

By 1900 Carpenter was elected a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

In 1927, Carpenter was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Colorado State University.